Liberty community votes to appoint new school board member

The Liberty Elementary School District is working to fill its vacant board and hosted a community forum where the district leadership asked four questions of each candidate who submitted their name for appointment to get to know their policies better.

 A total of seven individuals applied for appointment to the seat on the LESD Governing Board.

The standing board can recommend three candidates to the Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs and county staff who can select the new board member from within that pool.

 Boggs also has the power to select board members who were not suggested by the district or community.

After the event, the LESD Governing Board asked community members for their input on who they would like to have representing their district by asking community members to complete a survey asking participants to select up to three candidates they believe should be considered for the position. The survey states that the community input will help the governing board make a more informed decision on who to recommend to the County School Superintendent.

Applicants Kori Tillmon and Kourtney Kelly were not in attendance, but the remaining five interviewees introduced themselves and their goals for the district.

Doni Bond

Bond described herself as a mother and grandmother who cares about the safety and education of children. Bond is a retired tax accountant who would bring 25 years of retail experience to the board, In the recent school board election Bond ran and came in fourth as voters filled three seats. 

Q: What is the primary purpose or role of a board member?

A: “The primary purpose and role of a school board member is to know the concerns and needs of our teachers our students our staff and our stakeholders,” Bond said. “We have a high-standard code of ethics a school board member has a responsibility to you and the students.”

Q: How would you describe the parents’ role in their child's education and how this would impact your role as a member of the governing board?

A: "You are entrusted with a life and you want to protect you want to nurture you want to keep that life safe,” said Bond. “(I believe that we need to) focus on good habits and as well as working with their teachers and talking with them to communicate needs as the school year progresses.”

Q: How would you determine where what where budget cuts need to be made if you were a board member? 

A: “I will support budget cuts that do not affect any anything that has anything to do with classroom instruction or interaction. In our home we call it nice but not necessary,” said Bond.

Q: Outside of the budget, what is the biggest problem facing the district and how do you think the board and the district should solve it?

A: I think growth is our biggest challenge right now…  I think that we need to be clear with our community about the growth and a clear Direction so that they understand the needs of our district,” said Bond.

Ashley Wright

Ashley Wright is a parent volunteer in the PTO vice president at Estrella Elementary School. Write is a trained paralegal and has a background in HR. Write describes herself as a career volunteer with a unique perspective of schools and all staff members. 

Q: What is the primary purpose or role of a board member?

A: “The primary role purpose of board member is to bridge the gap between stakeholders and the school system to ensure that all students have services that they need teachers are supported staff are supported and we them trust and transparency when we're dealing with those things” Wright said. “My main goal is to give a voice back to the parents and teachers they're our greatest asset and I think it does a lot to listen to them and what they experience on a daily basis

Q: How would you describe the parents’ role in their child's education and how this would impact your role as a member of the governing board?

A: “The parents’ role in the child's education as the person in charge of growing up a successful productive citizen of society,” said Wright. “I believe it's our role to respect the parent’s position in raising and training that child.”

Q: How would you determine where what where budget cuts need to be made if you were a board member? 

A: “Besides not touching student services, which should be paramount to anybody in this room, I think I would start with looking at not opening Loretta Zumbro,” said Wright.

Q: Outside of the budget, what is the biggest problem facing the district and how do you think the board and the district should solve it?

A: “(Our biggest problem is) staffing, we have 66 open positions currently and a new school that we're going to staff and no way to know how we're going to do that,” said Wright. “We need to listen and figure out what's going on. We have lost the public's trust.”

Paul Bixler

Paul Bixler is an Arizona native, parent, educator and veteran. Bixler was the first trans woman to be elected in Arizona and offers nearly four decades of public school experience at all levels from educator to administrator. If appointed, she would be returning to the board after her term ended in December. 

Q: What is the primary purpose or role of a board member?

A: “The only role of a board member is to make decisions and those decisions impact every single person involved in the school district,” said Bixler. “You've got to come in prepared and you've got to be able to make those decisions.”

Q: How would you describe the parents’ role in their child's education and how this would impact your role as a member of the governing board?

A: "Parents have the absolute authority to make the best decisions in the interest of their child,” Bixler said. “Our responsibility as board members to make sure that transparency is there and that we keep the parent informed so they can make that best decision.”

Q: How would you determine where what where budget cuts need to be made if you were a board member? 

A: “I would hold safe the classroom that's where you spend your money but as I enter into that I need to kind of go back to the physician mantra which is do no harm,” said Bixler. “Do no harm may not be possible so do the least harm is what we probably will have to do.”

Q: Outside of the budget, what is the biggest problem facing the district and how do you think the board and the district should solve it?

A: “The thing that is number one right now in our district is to restore trust in all of our stakeholders we've lost that with the actions of our leadership on the board … We need to restore that first that's where it needs to begin,” said Bixler.

Ana Gutierrez

Ana Gutierrez is a parent to a student in liberty elementary school district and a Former administrator. Gutierrez said she looks forward to promoting policies that promote equitable learning opportunities and collaboration of the board to support students and teachers. 

Q: What is the primary purpose or role of a board member?

“I think we all understand that a governing board is a local governing body of the school district and we are very blessed that we have that local control and we get to provide input into what a school district and in what direction it should go,” Gutierrez said. 

Q: How would you describe the parents’ role in their child's education and how this would impact your role as a member of the governing board?

“It takes an entire village to raise children. It is not just the parents and it's not just the school but it is also the responsibility of a governing board and a governing body to raise children and to ensure that the school system is one that is effective and flourishing for students,” Gutierrez said.

Q: How would you determine where what where budget cuts need to be made if you were a board member? 

A: "I think it's important to really look at the current standing of the district's financial status… as a member I would want to dig further uh have uh additional transparent audit findings,” said Gutierrez. “It is a very challenging process that requires a lot of transparency a lot of collaborative input from stakeholders not just educators, but community stakeholders who would be impacted by the cuts.”

Q: Outside of the budget, what is the biggest problem facing the district and how do you think the board and the district should solve it?

A: “Staff morale and teacher retention is a critical factor in our district and what impacts that is leadership both from the governing board and from Administration,” Gutierrez said. “So working to prioritize their retention so they can provide a quality education every day to students would be central to this work.”

Mike Lyon

Mike Lyon is a veteran who worked in leadership and budget management before his career in education. Lyon describes himself as a peacemaker and said he wants the board to empower teachers, support students and respect tax player dollars. 

Q: What is the primary purpose or role of a board member?

A: “The school board has three jobs balance the budget take care of the kids take care of the staff and I think in the past um the board has had some other agenda items and I was at the budget review meeting and it's obvious we need to ask some very pointing questions,” Lyon said.

Q: How would you describe the parents’ role in their child's education and how this would impact your role as a member of the governing board?

A: “The parents make the decisions,” said Lyon, “I think there needs to be a little more boldness about what's really in the best interest of the kids.” Lyon also stated that direct communication, transparency and accountability are necessary with student achievement in the form of holding students back from grade promotions.

Q: How would you determine where what where budget cuts need to be made if you were a board member? 

A: "I would start with looking at where we've expanded spending over the last couple years,” said Lyon. “I also feel and I'm an an outsider, I would want to do more investigating but it seems to me like the administration, or what I call the head-shed, has expanded dramatically.”

Q: Outside of the budget, what is the biggest problem facing the district and how do you think the board and the district should solve it?

A: “I think one of the biggest problems facing the district is real test scores and one of the ways to improve them is multifaceted: more teachers, more after school help,” said Lyon.

The LESD staff will be accepting survey results until Sunday, March 2. To submit survey results or to view a recording of the community forum, visit liberty25.org.